Best family car that doesn't cost a fortune to run?

gord115

Lemonade_Pockets wrote: »

For anyone in the same situation who hasn't got a specific car in mind and wants something reliable cheap to run etc etc.

(This is unusual advice i know) but take a look at what cabbies are driving.
They drive the cars they do because they are spacious, comfortable and because the whole life cost is cheap!!!!!!

Keep an eye on the ranks decide what u like and you wont go far wrong!!!

couldn't agree more, they're all Octavias round here

MrsE_2

TiTheRev wrote: »

Interesting how Skoda are 4th, and essentially the same car?!

Cannot believe that Suzuki are top

I would have said Skoda for a cheap reliable family car.

DH had one & it was great. Hes got a Galaxy now (hes a cab driver).

I can only agree with how great Suzukis are, I have a GV VVT+

blue_monkey_2

I've not read all of this thread so sorry if it has been posted.

I've got an '02 reg Kia Rio that I bought pre-registered with the garage with 1000 miles on the clock for £7,000. In the 6 years I have had it I've had a problem with the suspension but that has been all and it was replaced under warranty. We paid to exend the warranty from 3 to 5 years for our own peace of mind but we never needed anything else done, it was a waste of money.

I would get another like a shot. The new Rio's are a little smaller so I'd go for a C'eed which has a 7 year warranty but the Tax is just £35. I pay around £200 for FC Insurance with protected no claims.

If I was offered any car tomorrow whatever price I'd get another Kia like a shot. It starts every single time and is a reliable runner. You can get loads in it and it suitably holds 2 adults and 2 kids plus luggage when we go on holiday. The tax is cheap and the new ones do around 65 mpg.

It depends what you want though, I do not need to be driving like a lunatic when I have children in the car, it is what it is, a family car!

magyar

Can I just add SEAT into the mix if we're talking about reasonable, reliable cars? My wife drives an '02 SEAT Leon 1.9TDI SE (basically a Mark IV Golf in disguise). It's done 95,000 miles now and never had a single problem (unless you count the engine undertray being ripped off by hitting a brick!). Maintenance is very cheap (although we don't use SEAT dealer, far too pricey) and it easily averages 40mpg and higher on motorways.

Plenty of room in the back for a couple of child seats and plenty of boot space. I'd certainly recommend that model as a reliable family car, but can't speak for the newer model (05 onwards I think?)

Amarillo

I hope it is OK to post on this thread , I am going round in circles trying to decide on a new car. We have a 1998 Toyota Corolla which has been incredibly reliable and I'd happily carry on with it. Only problem is we can't really fit in the 4 of us and my mother (2children in high backed boosters though one OK to go on booster cushion).

What I would like is:

Something reliable,

Relatively cheap tax under the new scheme if it comes in (ideally about £180 a year but would pay £210 tax if had to),

Decent mpg and minimum of 4 stars for Encap, 5 would be good.

Needs to be able to fit 2 child seats plus one adult in the back and be able to tow a folding camper.

Budget is as little as possible as I hate spending on cars. Somewhere around 3k would be good but I suspect I am kidding myself. Just need to be able to get in it and rely on it to start as my current car does. Sorry to be fussy, any help most gratefully received.

Lemonade_Pockets

rjl567 wrote: »

then you'd probably end up with one of those 7/8 seater fiats with a row of fold down seats facing the back. lol

Seriously tho, you'd end up with a skoda octavia diesel, or a vectra/mondeo/passat. Perfectly good cars if thats what you want but they're probably the most dull new cars you could possibly buy. And im not sure about them choosing reliable ones, otherwise you'd see a lot more toyotas.

Apparently new york yellow cabs have 4 litre engines and do about 12mpg, crazy considering they probably rarely get over 30mph

You missed the most important part of my post which was whole life cost. Japanese car's have neither great residuals or great discounts when buying new so 'real' depreciation is steep. The trade off in reliability i guess would be and easily offset against cheaper parts+labour prices with a bigger dealer network.
Hence the skoda's are popular at the moment as they have a good blend of good resale values, reliability and reasonable maintenance costs.

Lemonade_Pockets

Amarillo wrote: »

I hope it is OK to post on this thread , I am going round in circles trying to decide on a new car. We have a 1998 Toyota Corolla which has been incredibly reliable and I'd happily carry on with it. Only problem is we can't really fit in the 4 of us and my mother (2children in high backed boosters though one OK to go on booster cushion).

What I would like is:

Something reliable,

Relatively cheap tax under the new scheme if it comes in (ideally about £180 a year but would pay £210 tax if had to),

Decent mpg and minimum of 4 stars for Encap, 5 would be good.

Needs to be able to fit 2 child seats plus one adult in the back and be able to tow a folding camper.

Budget is as little as possible as I hate spending on cars. Somewhere around 3k would be good but I suspect I am kidding myself. Just need to be able to get in it and rely on it to start as my current car does. Sorry to be fussy, any help most gratefully received.

Your biggest problem is that to get 2 child seats and a adult in the back you will probably need a people carrier. The new shape scenic has 5* NCAP and is probably not far of your price goal or an old shape is 4* and you could probably get a late one with good spec and diesel. The only real problem with them is the original coils were dodgy but most have been replaced now. Citroen Picasso will be pretty much identical money too.

Other options are you could look at VW sharan, Ford Galaxy and co.

Or if you could cramp the people in the back then recent models of most of the normal family hatches, mondeo, vectra, octavia, mazda 6 etc will be coming into the £3000 mark

edde

reduceditem wrote: »

And the cars that don't break down are Honda, Toyota...etc.etc

The reliabilty surveys don't lie.

You get good and bad cars though

edde

rjl567 wrote: »

Apparently new york yellow cabs have 4 litre engines and do about 12mpg, crazy considering they probably rarely get over 30mph

There burdened with auto boxes though a heavy car and there not that powerful a engine for there size. Americans didn't care about big uneconomical taxis though when fuel was cheap

Akom

Prehaps you can give me your opinion on a car i'm looking at.

I've been looking at estate cars (for the dog) and with my budget £4500 it seems a toss up between Astra, focus with lower milage or a Accord with higher milage.

I'll be trading in my old Accord 1997 which was fantastic and never gave me any problems. Loved it loads.

The Accord i'm looking at is 2005 and 90,000 miles on the clock. 2.2 deisel.

Opinions please though i may not like what you'll have to say :rotfl: